Ask me now if I would change the circumstances of my life and I will answer, “absolutely not!” Although the things that have happened were not part of my plan, God’s plan has taught me so much about Him and about His heart’s longing to have fellowship with me. Through failure, I have realized my total inability to do anything except sin apart from His grace. He is my dearest Friend, my Savior, and my Heavenly Father. I look forward to someday living with Him forever.

From My Plan or God’s Plan, in which Brenda Vaughn described the devastating fire that critically injured her and her daughter, and how the Lord worked through it. Through years of blessed service, through the precious Hidden Treasure school the Vaughns founded, through her testimony of God’s faithfulness in trials, she touched many lives.

2 Responses to “Absolutely Not!”

I had not heard of these magnificent saints before. What suffering they endured and yet were enabled to triumph through faith. Such stories also frighten me somewhat, especially because God often allows His children to endure almost indescribable suffering. Those preachers in the health and wealth and prosperity movement are silenced by suffering such as that endured by the Vaughan family. Those preachers lie when they say that it is God’s will for Christians to be healthy and wealthy and that all we have to do is “name it” and “claim it” i.e health etc.

“But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (II Timothy 4:5).

Until we get to Glory, we must suffer afflictions. Then, we will indeed be healthy and wealthy — any health or wealth in this life is merely a pale shadow of what is to come. Those who emphasise the blessings of this life obscure the focus of Scripture. This world is not our home.